Proposals to increase, reduce and keep the current number of York councillors have all been put forward as part of an ongoing review.
It comes as some members report growing workloads.
City of York Council’s ruling Labour group has said the number of councillors should be increased from the current 47 to 53 to ensure voters’ expectations of the role can be met.
The Liberal Democrat opposition has backed keeping the existing amount, saying they agreed councillors’ workloads are high but it did not justify enlarging the authority and its running costs.
But the Conservatives said the number of councillors should be cut to 41 to limit the cost of politics while Independent Cllr Mark Warters called for a reduction to 25.
It comes as part of an ongoing electoral review of York council announced by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) earlier this year.
The two-part review is set to make recommendations on the size of the council, which Labour currently controls with a majority of one, as part of its ongoing first phase.
A second phase, looking at the size, names, boundaries and number of councillors assigned to the authority’s 21 wards, is set to follow.
Reviews of councils look at whether their set up reflects demands on councillors and the authority as a whole by taking factors including population growth forecasts into account.
York’s 47-strong council currently consists of a ruling Labour group with 24 members and a Liberal Democrat opposition with 19.
Its Conservative group has three members, with Cllr Warters sitting as an unaffiliated independent.
York councillors surveyed as part of the authority’s submission for the first phase of the review found the amount of time they were spending on their duties each month varied.
The survey, which 28 councillors responded to, found the amount of time spent each month on committee preperation ranged from three to 50 hours.
Councillors who responded spent between four and 120 hours a month doing work in wards.
Analysis of the survey found all councillors, whether they were on the authority’s executive, the opposition front bench or backbenchers, faced high workloads.
A council report stated it included time spent on case work, reading papers for an increasing number of meetings on outside bodies and undertaking tasks previously done by full-time officers.
It added members for wards with a high concentration of businesses, those covering rural areas or with complex needs or highly-engaged residents faced extra pressure.
The report stated: “The survey demonstrates high work demands, many councillors juggle their council responsibilities alongside full-time jobs, family and personal commitments.
“The complexities of the landscapes in which the council operates require significant levels of knowledge, understanding, preparation and participation from members to ensure that York is able to serve its electorate well.”
The council’s three political groups and its independent member were unable to reach a consensus on the size of the authority.
Ruling Labour said the number of councillors needed to go up or the authority would risk leaving them stretched and putting off people thinking of standing for election.
The opposition Liberal Democrats said reducing the number of councillors would risk hollowing out their ability to scrutinise the authority but increasing them would add unnecessary costs.
The Conservative group said increases in councillors’ allowances including for special responsibilities meant there was a need to keep costs down at a time when residents were struggling financially.
Cllr Warters said a reduction in the number of councillors would open the door to cutting full-time staff posts which now overlapped with the combined authority and other outside bodies.
